The British Horseracing Authority has appointed a new Chair while simultaneously fighting a fierce political battle over the Gambling Commission’s affordability measures.
The BHA’s concerns centre on Financial Risk Assessments, the more extensive of two affordability tools being rolled out, with the lighter version being Financial Vulnerability Checks.
The Gambling Commission’s decision to press ahead with FRAs has drawn significant criticism from racing and betting industry figures across the country.
BHA’s Acting Chair David Jones contacted the Gambling Commission directly, requesting data from the regulator’s pilot of Financial Risk Assessments ahead of the decision being finalised.
Jones also used that correspondence to voice concerns about the Commission being driven by what he described as “ideological will” rather than evidence-based policymaking.
Those emails between Jones and Gambling Commission Acting Chief Executive Sarah Gardner were obtained by the Racing Post through a freedom of information request.
Racing Post journalist Lee Mottershead wrote an op-ed effectively accusing the Commission of ignoring BHA requests for information throughout the months leading up to the July decision.
The BHA has been pushing for formal parliamentary oversight of the affordability measures, arguing that the current process bypasses democratic scrutiny entirely.
Greg Swift made the industry’s position clear, stating that “what the government is not doing is allowing any parliamentary scrutiny of a decision that will be taken not by government, but by the Gambling Commission.”
Swift further emphasised the scale of what is at stake, warning that “we’re talking about a decision that will significantly impact two multi-billion pound industries that employ close to 200,000 people across the country.”
The affordability debate has become one of the most contentious regulatory disputes in UK gambling and racing, with no sign of either side backing down.
With a new Chair now in place at the BHA, the organisation appears set to intensify its political and regulatory campaign against the current direction of gambling policy.
